


Bargaining

by AceQueenKing



Category: Star Wars Legends: Force Unleashed - All Media Types
Genre: F/F, Jedi Training, Kissing, Love Bites, Seduction
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-06
Updated: 2018-07-06
Packaged: 2019-06-06 06:50:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,093
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15189182
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AceQueenKing/pseuds/AceQueenKing
Summary: Shaak Ti bargains with her padawan in an attempt to get her to concentrate, but what Maris asks for proves to be difficult for them both to resist.





	Bargaining

**Author's Note:**

  * For [AriesOnMars](https://archiveofourown.org/users/AriesOnMars/gifts).



Maris Brood does not meditate easily.

The Zabrak fidgets as Shaak Ti watches; she is quite sure of this, noting with some amusement that the girl has a great deal of trouble keeping her eyes closed. She is a natural beauty, but the grimaces her face makes belies that beauty, make her look crueler, leaner. Even in the hot climate of Felucia, Maris Brood looks ready to freeze out anyone who pushed her too far.

"Master," Maris says softly. "This is a lost cause."

"Nothing worth doing comes easily," Shaak Ti says, placing a hand on Maris' warm back. Maris is the first Zabrak she had ever taken as an apprentice, and Shaak Ti is unsure exactly where to touch the girl; Maris flinches so often when she does, in a way that made her wonder, exactly, what had happened to the girl with her first master. Had they beaten her? Yelled? It is hard to tell with Maris; she has a talent for duplicity that the Shaak Ti of old would never have approved of, but which her current self cannot deny is an advantage, one of the few that might keep the girl alive longer. She does not discourage it.

She settles on the ground with Maris, shifting until they are sitting side by side, with their palms facing outwards, toward one another. Maris shoots her a testy expression.

"What good is this going to do, Master? Honestly? Like if Darth Vader comes here —”

 _You will die_ , Shaak Ti thinks. _We will all die._ She plans to fight to the end, but is well aware that neither her apprentice, nor perhaps herself, will survive. Master Yoda and Master Windu had not, after all; Obi-Wan Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker were both presumed dead. Luminara Unduli has been captured, presumed dead.  The greatest warriors of their order have died, and Shaak Ti has made peace with the fact she may soon be among them.

"Then you will need to stay calm then, too," Shaak Ti says, smiling with a confidence she does not feel. She is careful not to broadcast her doubts across the padawan bond that they have already formed; tentative though it is.

Maris rolls her eyes in response.

"Apprentice, this is the foundation. You cannot hope to escape Vader and his wraiths without —"

"Who said anything about _escaping_?" Maris' eyes gleam with a wicked light and Shaak Ti shivers; Maris is the closest to come being devoured by the abyss of the Dark Side of any of her apprentices, and she fears for the girl. "I could fight them off. Slice him —”

"Enough." Shaak Ti says, careful to make her voice strong but not unkind. "You must master this if you are to have any hope of mastering the advanced lightsaber styles you would need to 'slice him', as you put it. Patience will serve you well, padawan. You must find a way to motivate yourself to stick with it."

Maris' smile grows wider, resembling nothing so much as an _akul_. It is, Shaak Ti has to admit, a bit disturbing.

"I have always found it easier to work with the right motivation, master," Maris says, still smiling.

"What sort of motivation?" Shaak Ti probes her apprentice's feelings gently, trying to figure out what route her newest apprentice is going down. In theory is was not against such a thing - many padawans respond better to external stimulus, herself included.

"A kiss," Maris says, then winks in a way that makes Shaak Ti's heartbeat quicken - for all the wrong reasons. Maris is an attractive woman, vivacious if cunning. Shaak Ti knows attachment was forbidden in the old order; knows too that the old order is dead. Knows Maris could fall. Knows Shaak Ti could provide an anchor point.

"Very well, then," Shaak Ti says, tapping the other woman's knee. "A kiss. If you can concentrate for twenty minutes."

Maris shoots her a confused look, eyebrows raised - she has been called on her bluff, but the smile, still ever-present, suggests she does not regret making it.

"Twenty minutes," she says, her voice breathy with a sort of desire that Shaak Ti would have spoken against, once.

She watches Maris close her eyes, scrunch them tight. Shaak Ti says nothing, letting the ambient noise of life in the jungle reach Maris instead. But she does keep a careful watch.

Maris struggles for a few moments; her eyes were shut through a strength of will, not natural desire. But as her breathing slowed, Shaak Ti feels her padawan’s mind relax; her eyes stopped twitching, and she looks like a woman at peace.

The difference is profound. Shaak Ti could not help but feel a beaming sense of pride as she looks down on the woman; her body is so relaxed, her mind is so open.

Perhaps there is hope for them yet. Perhaps.

At twenty minutes, she places a hand on Maris' shoulder. "Time is up, apprentice.”

Maris looks up at her in pleasant surprise; Shaak Ti smiles, happy to have made some headway.

"I believe a kiss was promised," Maris says, scrambling toward her. She places her hands on Shaak Ti's shoulders and Shaak Ti finds the touch warm.

"So it was," Shaak Ti says, touching Maris' chin. The woman near her breathes in a harsh, nervous breath and Shaak Ti crosses the space between them, pressing her lips to Maris' own.

It is a chaste kiss for only but a moment, then Maris shifted like liquid, all but clambering into Shaak Ti's lap as she kisses her, again and again. Shaak Ti bites back a groan as Maris explores her mouth, her hands touching her cheek, her horns rubbing against Shaak Ti’s forehead, her hands holding Shaak Ti's montrails. The girl's sharp teeth glaze over her mouth in a bite that is more pleasure than pain.

Shaak Ti pulls back, regretting every second of it but knowing she could fall — they could both fall — if she doesn’t. But it is difficult not to fall.  

"Enough," she says, softly, breathing heavily. She stands, turning toward the forest and channeling the living force with all her mind. Maris rises next to her, placing her hand on Shaak Ti's arm.

"There's work to do," Shaak Ti says, and Maris nods.

She watches the girl as Maris resumes her meditation, her heart thudding in her chest.

She can only hope they will live long enough that they would both refine their control.

She can only hope that somehow, they will both get out of this alive.


End file.
